See Silver Ladder for all the fluff.
Doctrine
Parent Path: Mastigos, Silver Ladder
Prerequisites: Spirit 2, Expression 2, Meditative Mind (•), and 2 dots amongst Persuasion, Socialize, and Subterfuge
Initiation: Perform a task of service, as designed by your mentor, while embracing your Vice.
Magic:
Ruling: Spirit
Yantras: Succeed on a Persuasion test relevant to the spell (+2), your spell is cast in the service of others (+1), your spell is in keeping with your Vice (+1, +2 if this imposes a negative Condition).
Oblations: Service other as a Spiritual Authority, build up or tear down a celebrity, converse with goetic demons or goeticists, research the demons of the mind, engage in seduction, engage in rampant Viceful behavior, indulge in the fear or adulation of others.
Attainments:
First Attainment: Diabolist’s Circlet
Pre-Requisite: Initiation
The Diabolist’s acclimatization to the realm of Spirit permits her to understand certain facts about a Spirit with but a simple touch. So long as the Diabolist can perceive a Spirit, whether it is manifested or in Twilight, a single touch (even if they dot “physically” tough it) will impart to them several the following facts equal to their dots in Spirit, minus the Spirit’s Rank:
- What is the Spirit’s Name?
- What is its Rank?
- What Manifestations does it possess?
- What Numina does it possess?
- What are its Influences, and roughly how strong are they?
- What is its Ban or Bane?
Simple Know Spirit spell, Reach to Instant Casting.
Optional Arcanum: Mind 1
A Diabolist also proficient in the Arcanum of mind can instead of reading the Spirit’s essence, read its nature,
its mind. The Diabolist can also determine what the Spirit desires. In addition, the Diabolist can turn this
ability on any other Mind to understand the Vice which dwells within them.
Simple Know Nature spell, Reach to Instant Casting.
Second Attainment: Daimon’s Measure
Pre-Requisite: Spirit 2
The Diabolist’s rituals of indulgence manifest a persistent ward against the abilities and influences of Spirits
and their ilk. This attainment takes a scene’s worth of Vice indulgence to activate, and protects the Diabolist
from all Spiritual Numina, Influences, Manifestations and spells and abilities of a Spiritual nature such as the
Spirit Arcanum and Werewolf Gifts. Any of these abilities which seek to influence the Mage must beat the
Mage in a Clash of Wills. This Attainments lasts for a number of steps on the Advanced Duration table equal
to the Mage’s dots in Spirit.
This Attainment emulates Ephemeral Shield, with Reach allocated to Advanced Duration.
Optional Arcanum: Mind 2
The only influence which many a Diabolist will tolerate upon their Mind is one that they permit. Calling upon
their Vice to shield their mind as much as it does their Spiritual Essence, Goetia and Mind-affecting spells
must also defeat the Diabolist in a Clash of Wills in order to gain a foothold in her mind.
Basically, just Mental Shield, with Reach allocated to Advanced Duration.
Third Attainment: The Embrace of Vice
Pre-Requisite: Spirit 3
The Spiritual world is not always capable of being bound so tightly to the Diabolist’s will as they would like.
With an Instant Action, the Diabolist can instead use their Vice like a knife to sever the Open or Resonant
condition from an individual, or small area.
This Attainment Emulates Erode Resonance, with Reach allocated to Instant Casting, the secondary factor is applied to Area of Effect.
Optional Arcanum: Mind 3
Engaging in a ritual of submission to their Vice, the Diabolist can master themselves, “tuning out” their
Virtue for an extended period. While under the effects of this Attainment, the Diabolist does not gain
Willpower from pursuing their Virtue, or any other benefit, it is as if it has ceased to exist. Instead where
they indulge in their Vice, the Diabolist gains an additional point of Willpower, and when spend to enhance a
Resistance Attribute gains a +4 bonus instead of a +2. To pre-emptive end this Attainment before its
allocated duration, the Diabolist must succeed on a Resolve + Composure test, opposed by her own Gnosis +
Mind.
No comparable power, consider primary factor as Duration, reach allocated to Advanced Duration. Would normally be fairly significant Act of Hubris, but lol, Attainments don’t cause those.
Fourth Attainment: The Master’s Chain
Pre-Requisite: Spirit 4
The Diabolist’s Vice may be used in other ways other than for self-mastery, and having seduced a weaker
Spirit into acquiescence, a Diabolist may seek to bind it into willing service. In an extended ritual, the
Diabolist may spend a scene binding a willing Spirit to her with a chain made of her Vice. The Diabolist gains
the appropriate Familiar merit, and the Spirit gains the Familiar Condition. Either party may end the bond
whenever they so desire, how given the aptitude of the Bene Ashmedai for bending Spirits to their will, this
may take some deciding. This Attainments lasts for a Month, but progresses to the duration of a Year should
their proficiency extend to Mastery.
Emulates Familiar, Reach allocated to Advanced Duration.
Optional Arcanum: Mind 4
The Diabolist’s understanding Minds has granted them the ability to grasp ahold of other’s Mage’s Vice and
bind Spirits to them instead. In all instances of this Attainment, the Mage and the Spirit must be willing to
engage this bond, and may end it at any time.
Furthermore, the Diabolist may extend the use of this Attainment to the rare errant Goetia loosed in the
Fallen World, binding it just as tightly as the more common Spiritual fare.
First option removes self-imposed Mage-only limitation, second option grants an identical power with Goetia.
Fifth Attainment: Pandemonium’s Mirror
Pre-Requisite: Mind 5, Spirit 5,
In a ritual of supreme Vice, the Diabolist manifests her Demon fully within the Fallen World, binding it to her
will as they act in concert. This Attainment can only be used at a Hallow, Demesne, or Synese, and require
the Diabolist to spend a single point of Mana. At the culmination of the scene’s ritual, the Diabolist manifests
her Demon, which takes the form of a powerful Goetia (Rank 3-4). The Diabolist’s Demon will only remain
the Fallen World for a maximum of a Week. So long as the Diabolist acts in accordance with her now
manifested Vice, the two can cooperate and her former Attainments continue to function. However, should
the Diabolist seek to act outside of concert with her Vice, her connection to it ceases, and she loses access to
all of her previous attainments, and cannot benefit from her Vice until the duration lapses and it dissolves
back into her Oneiros.
This is a pretty complex spell based on the Mind 3 Goetic Summon spell, with Reach allocated to changing the Primary Factor to Potency (to permit summoning Goetia of Rank 3-4), Advanced Duration (to grant a Week’s Duration), and to activate the ability to manifest Goetia from the caster’s Oneiros. Potency of 5 is used to permit summoning Rank 3-4 Goetia, and the Duration should be a third step along the advanced table (one Week).
Normally a practice of Goetia should lose their access to the element of themselves which they choose to Summon to the Fallen World, however I neither wanted to lose the Bene Ashmedai their textbook final Attainment, nor did I want to lose them access to all their previous Attainments when using their final one. So, a compromise. Bene Ashmedai in summoning their Demon of Vice forge a mental link with it, which the Demon permits, so that they can still access it as a part of their Mind, and use their Vice-based powers, so long as they continue to only act in Concert with it.
Should they decide NOT to act Viceful (or fail to control their manifested Vice with spells/Attainments) then that contact will end, and the Demon will run rampant. So, if you’re a fucking second-Degree Master, and wanting to summon the powerful Goetia of your most key personality aspect. You’d better be pretty careful about it.
Optional Arcanum:
Fucking None, is summoning a Rank 4 Manifested Goetia which wants to do what you want to do, and still permits you to use all of your Attainments and fulfil your vice while kicking everyone’s ass for the bargain price of a single scene’s worth of Vice indulgence and a single fucking point of mana not enough for you?